Brands Hatch: Ducati first qualifying report

Steady Start For Ducati Fila Duo in Brands Opening Session
Brands Hatch (UK), 30 July 2004: The Ducati Fila pairing of Regis
Laconi and James Toseland got off to a steady start in the first qualifying
session for round 8 of the World ...

Steady Start For Ducati Fila Duo in Brands Opening Session

Brands Hatch (UK), 30 July 2004: The Ducati Fila pairing of Regis
Laconi and James Toseland got off to a steady start in the first qualifying
session for round 8 of the World Superbike championship with sixth and
fifteenth quickest times around the 4.197 km Brands Hatch circuit.

Despite setting only sixth quickest time, Laconi used the one-hour
session to good effect and was confident with both the set-up of his 999 F04
and his choice of tyre for the race.

"I'm feeling quite confident, we were working well in qualifying and I
was only using one tyre, because I was happy with that one. I did 23 laps
with it and it performed well" declared Regis. "We also tried something on
the rear shock and it was a bit better and I think we can improve tomorrow.
The bike is handling well all the way round the circuit, but in the second
split I'm losing a bit of time. I know why and I know where because I need
more traction when opening the gas but I am feel sure we can find something
extra for tomorrow."

Championship leader Toseland was disappointed with his Friday
qualifying performance, but is confident he and his Ducati Fila team will
sort things out for tomorrow.

"Today was a bit frustrating really, we've just got to get the bike
handling better, that's all" commented James. "The bike doesn't really feel
comfortable, the rear is skating going in and coming into the faster corners
the front is diving. We just need to find a better set-up. I don't even feel
fast, I felt like I was four seconds off the pace, instead it was just
one-and-a-half!. We've tried some things that have given no improvement so
we need to find a better solution for tomorrow."

Brands Hatch (UK), 30 July 2004: Lorenzo Lanzi (Ducati Breil) finished
this afternoon's opening qualifying session for the seventh round of the
World Supersport Championship at Brands Hatch in a lowly nineteenth place.

The 22-year-old Italian, who finished an excellent fourth on his last
outing in Britain at Silverstone six weeks ago, found the going a bit
tougher at Brands Hatch and he struggled with a lack of grip around the
4.197 km circuit.

"It was hard here today, much harder than Silverstone and a bit of an
uphill struggle" Lanzi commented. "There are a lot of things we have to work
on, we know that this is not our true position so tomorrow we're going to
make a big effort to improve.

"I'm losing a lot in the second 'split', which is the long sequence of
fast right-handers, where the bike is leaning over a lot of the time, so
that's where we're penalized. I just can't get on the gas in that part of
the circuit and the rear of the bike is sliding around quite a lot.

"We've got a few things to try out tomorrow with the springs and the
suspension settings, so I'm sure we'll be much further up the timesheets at
the end of the day."